The authorities of the Federal Capital Territory Administration said they would be paying close attention to borehole drilling in the city, to check acts of environmental abuse and flagrant disregard for building codes.
This, the administration said has become necessary following a recent discovery where developers allegedly drill boreholes on access roads and walkways.
Some staff of a drilling firm were intercepted last week, after drilling over 200 meters borehole on the road in front of an estate at No 4, Sani Zangon Daura street, off Bala Muhammad Way, Guzape District.
Director of the FCTA Department of Development Control, Muktar Galadima, who led the operation, warned developers and landlords against destruction of public properties, adding that the FCTA would not hesitate to use relevant laws to prosecute violators.
The visibly angry Galadima explained that “We woke up with someone drilling borehole on our road. Infact they drilled the borehole on the pedestrian walkway. This is a serious damage to the environment and we are definitely going to prosecute him. That is why we are liasing with Abuja Environmental Protection Board, AEPB, and other relevant agencies to prosecute the offenders. This is damaging public property. This is vandalization”.
The director who stated that a concerned citizen had hinted the department on the illegality going on at the estate, warned other developers against such act. “This is an opportunity for me to warn other developers that we will not accept this from any developer. We will resist any attempt by any developer to use pedestrian walkway to drill borehole. You have your property and you must obtain approval before you can even drill borehole wherever it is going to be.”
Reacting, the Head, Monitoring and Enforcement, Abuja Environmental Protection Board, Kaka Bello, said the owner of the building would be charged to court according to relevant AEPB Act.
“This is a walkway meant for people so we will charge them to court in line with our relevant laws”, he said.
Chief Engineer in charge of that Guzape area, Engr. Aliyu Ahmed lamented the rate at which boreholes were being drilled indiscriminately in the area.
“The issue of drilling of boreholes on our walkway has been rampant. There are many boreholes sunk around this area alone. We are going to lock up all the illegal boreholes. Drilling borehole on the road corridor is illegal. You can drill borehole inside your compound but the outside of your compound doesn’t belong to you”.
A staff of the drilling firm handling the project, Davita Drill Tech, Solomon Donald, could not ascertain whether there was a permit from the authorities to drill since the owner of the house could not be reached.
He and and three of his colleagues, and a gateman at the property were however whisked away by FCTA authorities for further questioning.
